Star Fleet Uniform Recognition Manual

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80

The Star Fleet Uniform Recognition Manual is a Star Trek reference work, not officially recognized as canonical by Paramount Pictures, that was written and illustrated by Shane Johnson and originally published by the Noron Group in 1985. It is a companion volume to one of his previous works, Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, which concentrates primarily on uniforms and clothing; Johnson had previously had to incorporate the uniforms and clothing details into the "General Information" section of Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, where he could not include all of them.

Contents

The first chapter, called "Federation Color Codes," is just that – a table of Federation color codes which adds eight colors to the list of thirty-two that Franz Joseph's design company provided in the Star Fleet Technical Manual. This "chapter" also includes tables of Star Fleet section colors past and present, and it also gives a key to the symbols that Johnson uses in the book.

The second chapter, titled "Insignia And Rank," is a series of drawings, some of which also include text; they depict how starship assignment and service grades were previously indicated as well as how they have since been indicated.

Since Johnson originally wrote and published the manual not long after Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was released, this chapter includes details about the uniforms that were introduced in that motion picture.

The third chapter is titled "Uniforms (Obsolete)" and depicts the uniforms and other gear worn at the approximate time of TOS, which is incorrectly given as the early 2200s.

The uniforms shown are all of William Ware Theiss's design for TOS, but the chapter erroneously includes a dress uniform design intended for female personnel that differs vastly from what was actually shown in TOS. A later online-only revision by Johnson corrects this.

The fourth chapter is titled "Uniforms (Current)," and it primarily depicts the uniforms that were introduced in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This particular uniform design is often called the "monster maroon" uniform because of the difficulty fans often have in assembling it for personal wearing.

One uniform which is described and depicted in this chapter, but was not shown in any Star Trek motion picture, is the "Diplomatic Dress Uniform." The references Johnson employed in drawing it and listing its details are not known. Paramount Pictures is not known to have provided any photographs of this uniform for reference works; thus it is not considered an officially recognized Starfleet uniform.

The fifth and final chapter, titled "Intelligence Report," shows Klingon uniforms past and present, as well as how the appearances of the Klingons have changed since they were first shown, and it concludes with an illustration of how the outfit Ricardo Montalban wore as Khan Noonien Singh might have looked when it was intact. According to Johnson, this outfit was actually the remains of a life support suit designed specifically for use with the DY series of sleeper ships.

Again, William Ware Theiss designed the original television-specific Klingon uniforms; Robert Fletcher designed the later motion picture-specific ones. No explanation is given for the differences in the appearances of Klingons.

Fletcher's design for Khan's outfit was meant to show off Ricardo Montalban's considerable muscular development, which was a by-product of a strenuous physical regimen which the actor then maintained specifically to counter the effects of a disability that afflicted him, that later proved to have been a birth deformity, until his last years.

The Star Fleet Uniform Recognition Manual is not considered official Star Trek canon material, even though it does contain design details of the so-called "monster maroon" uniforms of Robert Fletcher's design that had not been officially referred to in any canon sources. It uses a timeline Paramount Pictures officially considers faulty, ascribing the time when the various ship badges became obsolete to the early decades of the 23rd century, which James T. Kirk's reference to the year 2283 in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan contradicts.